2015 AUDI A3 CABRIOLET warning

142 Safet y belt s
To provide maximum protection, sa fety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer 's body .
.,. Adjust the front seat and head restr aint
properly ¢
page 60, Front seats .
.,. Make sure the seatback of the rear seat
bench is in an upright pos ition and securely
latched in place befo re using the belt¢.&, .
.,. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it even­
l y across the chest and pelvis¢.&, .
.,. Inse rt the tongue into the correct buckle of
you r seat until you hea r it latch securely
¢ fig . 136.
.,. Pull on the be lt to m ake s ure th at it is se-
curely latched in the b uckle .
Automatic safety belt retractors
Every safety belt is eq uipped w ith an automat­
ic belt retractor on the shoulder be lt . T his fea­
ture locks the be lt when the belt is pulled out
fast, dur ing hard bra king and in an acci dent.
The belt may also lock when yo u drive up or
down a steep hill or through a sharp curve. During normal driving the belt lets you move
freely .
Safety belt pret ensioners
The sa fe ty belts are equippe d wi th a be lt pre­
tensioner that helps to tigh ten the safety bel t
and remove s lack when the pretensioner is ac ­
tivated ¢
page 144. The function of the pre­
tensioner is monitored by a warning light
¢page 20.
Convert ible locking ret ractor
E very sa fe ty belt except the one on the dr iver
seat is eq uipped with a convertib le locking re­
tractor that
must be used when the safety
be lt is used to attach a child seat. Be s ure to
read the important information about this
feature ¢
page 180 .
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause se rious injury in an accident
¢ page 142, Safety bel t p osition.
- Saf ety belts offe r optim um pro te ction
only wh en the seatba ck is upr ight and be
lts are properly posit ioned on the
body.
- Never attach the safety be lt to the buck­
le for another seat. Attaching the belt to
the wrong buckle will reduce safety be lt
effectiveness and can cause serious per ­
sonal injury .
- A passenger who is not proper ly restrain­
ed can be seriously injured by t he safety
be lt itse lf w hen it moves from the stro n­
ge r parts of the body into cr itica l areas
like the abdomen .
- Always lock the conve rtible locking re­
tracto r when you are secu ring a child
seat in t he ve hicl e¢
page 182.
© Tips
Fo r information on safety belt pretens ion­
ers, refer to¢
page 144.
Safety belt position
Correct belt position is the key to getting
maximum protection from safety belts .
Fig. 137 Safet y bel t pos it ion
Stan dard fea tures o n your veh icle he lp yo u ad ­
ju st the pos ition o f th e safety be lt to ma tch
your body s ize .
- he ight-adjus table fron t seats.
A WARNING
Imp ro pe rl y pos it io ned safety be lts ca n
cause ser ious perso nal injury in an a cci­
dent.
-
- T he s hou lder be lt should lie as close to
the center o f the collar bone as possible
an d should fit well on the body. Hol d the
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"' rl
belt above the latch tongue and pull it
evenly across the chest so that it sits as
low as possible on the pelvis and there is
no pressure on the abdomen. The belt
should always fit snugly
r=:> fig. 137 . Pull
on the belt to tighten if necessary.
- The lap belt port ion of the safety belt
must be positioned as low as possible
across pelvis and never over the abdo­
men. Make sure the belt lies flat and
snug
c:> fig . 137. Pull on the belt to tight­
en if necessary.
- A loo se-fitting safety belt can cause seri­
ous injuries by sh ifting its position on
your body from the strong bones to more
vulnerable, soft tissue and cause serious
injury.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
r::;, page 141.
Pregnant women must also be correctly
restrained
The best way to protect the fetus is to make
sure that expectant mothers always wear
safety belts correctly -throughout the preg­
nancy.
Fig. 138 Safety belt pos itio n during pregnancy
To provide maximum protection, safety belts
must always be positioned correctly on the
wearer's body
c:> page 142 .
.. Adjust the front seat and adjustable head
restraint* correctly
c:> page 60, Front seats .
.. Hold the belt by the tongue and pull it even ­
ly across the chest and pelvis
r:!> fig. 138,
QA .
Safety belts 143
.. Insert the tongue into the correct buckle of
your seat until you hear it latch securely
<=:>page 141, fig. 136.
.. Pull on the belt to make sure that it is se­
curely latched in the buckle.
A WARNING
Improperly positioned safety belts can
cause ser ious personal injury in an acc i­
dent.
- Expectant mothers must always wear the
lap portion of the safety belt as low as
possible across the pelvis and below the
round ing of the abdomen.
- Always read and heed all WARNINGS and
other important information
c:> & in Fas­
tening safety belts on page 142.
Unfastening safety belts
Unbuckle the safety belt with the red release
button only a~er the vehicle has stopped.
.. J_
Fig. 139 Releas ing the tongue fro m the buck le
.. Push the red release button on the buckle
r=:> fig. 139. The belt tongue will spring out
of the buckle
r::;, ,&. .
.. Let the belt wind up on the retractor as you
guide the belt tongue to its stowed position .
A WARNING
--Never unfasten safety belt while the vehi­
cle is moving . Doing so will increase your
risk of being injured or kill ed.

144 Safety belts
Improperly worn safety belts
Incorrectly positioned safety belts can cause
severe injuries .
Wearing safety belts improperly can cause se­
rious injury or death. Safety belts can only
work when they are correctly positioned on
the body . Improper seating positions reduce
the effect iveness of safety belts and will even
i ncrease the r isk of injury and death by mov­
ing the safety belt to cr itical areas of the
body . Improper seating positions also in­
crease the risk of serio us inj ury and death
when an airbag deploys and strikes an occu­ pant who is not in the correct seating posi­
tion . A driver is responsible for the safety of
all vehicle occupants and especially for ch il­
dren . Therefore:
.. Never permit anyone to assume an incorrect
sitting position in the vehicle wh ile traveling
¢ _& .
A WARNING
Improperly worn safety belts increase the
risk of se rious personal injury and death
whenever a veh icle is being used .
- Always make sure that al l vehicle occu-
pants are cor re ct ly restrained a nd stay in
a corre ct seating posit ion wheneve r the
vehicle is be ing used.
- Always read and heed all WARNI NGS and
other important informat ion
¢page 141.
Safety belt preten­
sioners
How safety belt pretensioners work
In front, side and rear -end collisions above a
particular severity and in a rollover , safety
belts are tensioned automatically.
R ev er sible s afety belt ten sioners
The safety belts on the front seats are equip­
ped with power reve rsible tensioners . The fol­
low ing funct ions are available when the driv -er's/front passenger's safety belts are fas
­
tened:
- Automatic tens ioners : at the start of a dr ive,
t he sa fe ty belts automat ica lly adjust to the
passenger after a certain time period or ve ­
hicle speed.
- In certain driving situations, the safety belts
may tighten w ith a reversible tensioning
function
¢ page 95.
-The safety be lts may a lso tighten with this
reversible tensioning function in minor co lli­
sions .
Pyrotechnic s afety belt pretens ioners
T he safety belts are equipped with sa fety belt
pretensioners. The system is ac tivated by sen­
sors in front, side and rear-end co llisions of
great severity and in a rollover. This tightens
the belt and takes up belt slack ¢.&.
in Service
and disposal of safety belt pretensioner on
page 145.
Taking up the slack helps to reduce
forward occupant movement dur ing a colli ­
s ion .
A WARNING
-- It is poss ible for the pretens ioners to de-
p loy inco rrectly.
- The pyrotechnic system can only provide
p rotection fo r one coll is ion. If the pyro­
technic pretensioners deploy, the preten­ sioning sys tem must be replaced .
{!) Tips
The pyrotechnic safety be lt pretensioners
can only deploy once.
- The safety belt pretensioners do not de­
ploy in minor frontal and s ide collisions,
in rear-end co llisions, in rollovers and in
co llisions involving very little impact
force.
- A fine dust is released when the py ro­
t echnic safety be lt pretensioners dep loy.
T his is normal and is not caused by a fire
in the vehicle .
- T he re levant safety requ irements must
be observed when the vehicle or compo ­
nents of the system are scrapped. A

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qualified dealership is familiar with
these regulations and will be pleased to pass on the information to you.
- Be sure to observe all safety, environ­
mental and other regulations if the vehi­
cle or individual parts of the system, par­
ticularly the safety belt or airbag, are to be disposed. We recommend you have
your authorized Audi dealer perform this
service for you.
Service and disposal of safety belt
pretension er
The safety belt pretensioners are parts of the
safety belts on your Audi. Installing, remov­ ing, servicing or repairing of belt pretension­
ers can damage the safety belt system and
prevent it from working correctly in a colli­
sion.
There are some important things you have to
know to make sure that the effectiveness of
the system will not be impaired and that dis­
carded components do not cause injury or pol­
lute the environment .
A WARNING
Improper care, servicing and repair proce­
dures can increase the risk of personal in­
jury and death by preventing a safety belt
pretensioner from activating when needed
or activating it unexpectedly:
- The belt pretensioner system can be acti­
vated only once. If belt pretensioners
have been activated, the system must be
replaced.
- Never repair, adjust, or change any parts
of the safety belt system.
- Safety belt systems including safety belt
pretensioners cannot be repaired. Spe­
cial procedures are required for removal,
installation and disposal of this system.
- For any work on the safety belt system,
we strongly recommend that you see
your authorized Audi dealer or qualified technician who has an Audi approved re­pair manual, training and special equip­
ment necessary.
Safety belts 145
@:) For the sake of the environment
Undeployed airbag modules and preten­
sioners might be classified as Perchlorate
Material -special handling may apply, see
www. dtsc. ca.gov/hazard o u swa ste/ per-
ch lo rate. When the vehicle or parts of the
restraint system including airbag modules
safety belts with pretensioners are scrap­
ped, all applicable laws and regulations
must be observed. Your authorized Audi
dealer is familiar with these requirements
and we recommend that you have your
dealer perform this service for you. •
•
•

Airbag system 147
Since the circumstances will vary considerab ly
also at greater risk of injury or death
between on e collision and another , it is not
through contact with an inflating airbag .
possible to define a range of veh icle speeds
-If you are unrestrained, leaning forward,
that will cover every possible k ind and angle
sitting sideways or out of position in any
of impact that will always trigger the a irbags .
way, your risk of injury is much higher.
Important factors include, for example, the -You will a lso receive serious injuries and
nature (hard or soft) of the object which the could even be killed if you are up against
•
car h its, the ang le of impact, vehicle speed ,
• the airbag or too close to it when it in-
etc. The front airbags will a lso not inflate in
flates - even with an Advanced A irbag.
side or rea r collisions, or in ro ll-overs .
-To reduce the risk of injury when an air-
Alwa ys re memb er: Airbags will deploy only bag inflates, always wear safety belts
once, and only in certa in kinds of co llisions. properly
c::;, page 141, Safety belts
.
Your safety belts are always there to offe r pro- -
Always make certain that ch ildren age 12
tection in those s ituations in which airbags or younger always ride in the rear seat. If
are not supposed to deploy , or when they have children a
re not properly restrained , they
already deployed ; for example , when your ve- may be severe
ly inju red or killed when an
hide strikes or is struck by another vehicle af- airbag inf
lates.
ter the first collision . -
Never let ch ildren ride un restra ined o r
This is just one of the reasons why an a irbag is improperly restrained
in the vehicle . Ad-
just the front sea ts prope rly.
a supp lementary restraint and is not a s ubsti -
-Never ride with the back rest reclined .
tute for a safety belt . The airbag system
-Always sit as far as possible from the
works most effect ively when used with the
steering whee l or the instrument panel
safety belts. Therefore, always properly wear
c::;, page 127 . your safety belts c::;, page 138 .
- Always sit upright with your back against
A WARNING the backrest of yo ur seat.
- Never p lace your feet on the instrument
Sitting too close to the steer ing whee l or
panel or on the seat . Always keep both
instrument panel will dec rease the effec-
feet on the floor in front of the seat to
tiveness of the airbags and will inc rease
help prevent serious in ju ries to the legs
the risk of pe rsonal injury in a co llision.
and hips if the airbag in fla te s.
- Never si t closer than 10 inches (2S cm)
-Never recline the front passenger's sea t
to the stee ring wheel or instr ument pan-
to transport objects. Items can a lso
el. move into the area of the s ide a irb ag or
- If you cannot si t mo re than 10 inches
the front airbag during bra king or in a
( 2 5 cm) from the steer ing whee l, investi-
sudden maneuver. Objects near the air-
ga te whethe r adap tive equipmen t may
bags can become projectiles and cause
be available to help you reach the pedals injury when an airbag inflates.
and increase your seating distance from
the steering wheel.
A WARNING
- All veh icle occupants and especia lly chil -
dren m ust be restrained properly when- A
irbags that have deployed in a crash must
ever riding in a vehicle . An unrestra ined be replaced.
or improperly restrained child could be -
Use on ly orig inal equipment airbags ap-
M injured by striking the inter ior or by be- proved by Audi and installed by a trained • N technician who has the necessary too
ls ~ ,.... ing ejected from the vehicle during a > co sudden maneuver or impact . An unre-...... \!) ..,., strained or imp roperly rest rained child is ...... ..,., ......

148 Airbag sys tem
and dia gnostic equipment to properly re­
place any a irbag in your vehicle and
assure system effectiveness in a crash.
- Never permit salvaged or recycled a ir­
bags to be installed in your veh icle.
Child restraints on the front seat - some
important things to know
~ Be sure to read the impo rtant informat ion
and heed the WARNINGS for impo rtant de­
ta ils about ch ild ren and Advanced Airbags
Qpage 169.
Even though you r vehicle is equ ipped with an
Advanced Airbag Sys tem, ma ke certain that
all c hildren, especially those 12 years and
younger, a lways ride in the back sea t properly
restrained for their age and size . The airbag
on the passenger side makes the front seat a potentially dangerous place for a child to ride.
The front seat is not the safest place for a
child in a forward-facing child seat. It can be a
ve ry dangerous p lace for an infant or a ch ild in
a rearward-facing seat.
The Advanced Airbag System i n your veh icle
has been certified to comply with the require­
ments of United States Federa l Motor Ve hicle
Safety Standard 208 as applicable at the time
your ve hicle was manufactured.
The Standard requires the front a irbag on the
passenger side to be turned off ("sup ­
p ressed") if a c hild up to about one year of
age restra ined in one of the rear-facing o r fo r­
ward -facing infan t restra ints listed in Federal
M otor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 with w hich
the Advanced A irbag System in your vehicle
was certified has been installed on the front
passenger seat. Fo r a listing of the child re­
straints that were used to certify compliance
with the US Safety Standard
Q page 171.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light in the in­
strument panel te lls you when the front Ad­
vanced Airbag on the passenger side has been turned off by the e lectronic control unit. E
ach time you switch on the ignition, the
PAS­
SENGER AIR BAG O FF
light will come on for a
f ew seconds and :
- w ill stay on if the fro nt passenge r seat is not
occupied,
- w ill stay on i f the e lec tric al ca pacit ance
meas ured by the capacitive passenger de ­
tection system for the front passenger seat equa ls the combined capacitance of an in ­
fant up to about one year of age and one of
the rearward-facing or forward-fac ing ch ild
restraints listed in Federal Motor Vehicle
Safety Standard 208 with wh ich the Ad ­
vanced Airbag System in your vehicle was
c e rt ified . Fo r a listing of t he chi ld restraints
t ha t were used to certify you r vehi cle's com­
p lian ce w it h t he U.S. Safety Stand ard
Q page 171.
-w ill stay on if there is a small ch ild or child
restr aint on the front passenge r seat,
- will go off if t he front pa ssenge r seat is oc ­
cupied by an adult as regis tered by the ca ­
pacitive passenge r de tection sys tem
c::> page 158, Monitoring the Advanced Air·
bag System.
The PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light comes on
when e lec trica l capacitance registered on the
front passenger seat is eq ua l to or less tha n
t h e comb ined capacitance of a typica l 1 year­
o ld infant and one of the rearward-facing or
forward-facing chi ld restraints listed in Fede r­
al Motor Vehicle Safety Standard 208 w ith
wh ich the Advanced Airbag System in your ve­
hicle was certified.
If the total e lectr ica l capacitance registered
on the front passenger seat is more than that
of a typical 1 year -o ld child but less than the
weight of a small adu lt , the front airbag on
t h e passenger side can deploy (the
PASSEN­
GER AIR BAG OFF
light does not come on).
If the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light does
not come on, the front airbag on the passen­
ger side has not been turned off by t he e lec­
t ro nic cont ro l unit a nd can deploy if the con­
t ro l u nit se nses an impact tha t mee ts the con-
di tions s tored in its memory .
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Fo r exa mple, the airbag may depl oy if:
-a small child that is heavier than a typical 1
year-o ld child is on the front passenger seat
(regardless of whether the child is in one of
the chi ld seats listed
page 171), or
- a ch ild who has outgrown child rest raints is
on the front passenger seat.
If the front passenger airbag is turned off, the
P ASS ENGER AIR B AG OFF light comes on in
the instrument cluster and stays on.
If the front passenger airbag deploys, the
Federal Standard requires the airbag to meet
the "low risk" deployment criter ia to reduce
the r isk of injury through interaction with the
airbag. "Low risk" deployment occurs in those
crashes that take place at lower decelerations
as defined in the electronic control unit
r::> page 159, PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF light.
Always remember, a chi ld seat or infant carri­
er insta lled on the front seat may be struck
and knocked out of position by the rapidly in­
flating passenger's airbag in a frontal colli­
sion. The airbag could greatly reduce the ef­
fectiveness of the child restraint and even se­
riously injure the child during inflat ion.
For this reason, and because the back seat is
the safest place for children - when properly
restrained according to their age and size - we
strongly recommend that children always sit
in the back seat
r::> page 169, Child Safety .
A WARNING
A child in a rearward-facing child seat in­
stalled on the front passenger seat will be
ser iously injured and can be killed if the
front airbag inflates -even with an Ad­
vanced Airbag System .
- T he inflating airbag will hit the child seat
or infant carrier with great force and wi ll
smash the child seat and child against
the backrest, center armrest, door or roof.
- Always install rear-facing child seats on
the rear seat.
- If you must install a rearward facing
child seat on the front passenger seat
-
A irbag system 149
because of exceptional circumstances
and the
PA SSENGER AIR BAG OFF light
does not come on and stay on, immed i­
ately install the rear-fac ing child seat in a
rear seat ing pos ition and have the airbag
system inspected by your A udi dealer.
- Forward-facing child seats installed on the front passenger's seat may interfere
with the dep loyment of the a irbag and
cause serious persona l injury to the
child.
A WARNING
If, in except iona l circumstances, you must
install a forward -facing child restraint on
the front passenger's seat:
- Always ma ke s ure the forward-facing
seat has been designed and certified by its manufacturer for use on a front seat
with a passenger front and s ide a irbag.
- Never put the forward-facing child re­
straint up against or very near the instru ­
ment panel.
- Always move the passenge r seat into its
rearmost pos ition in the seat's fore and
aft ad justment range, as far away from
the airbag as possible before installing
the forward-fac ing ch ild restra int. The
backrest must be adjusted to an upright
position.
- Make sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG
OFF
l ight comes on and stays on all the
time wheneve r the ig nit ion is switched
on.
A WARNING
To reduce the ri sk of ser ious injury, ma ke
sure that the
PASSENGER AIR BAG OFF
light wi ll be displayed whenever a child re ­
straint is insta lled on the front passenger
seat and the ignition is switched on.
- If the PASSENGER AIR BAG OF F light
does not stay on, perform the checks de­
scribed
¢ page 158, Monitoring the Ad-
vanced Airbag System.
~
•
•
•

150 Airbag system
-Take the child restraint off the front pas­
senger seat and install it properly at one
of the rear seat positions if the
PA SS EN ­
GE R AI R BAG OFF
light does not stay on .
- Have the airbag system inspected by
your Audi dealer immed iately.
- Always carefully follow instructions from
child restraint manufacturers when in­
sta lling child restraints .
A WARNING ,.
If, in exceptional c ircumstances, you must
install a forward or rearward-fac ing child
restraint on the front passenge r's seat:
- Improper installation of child restraints
can reduce their effectiveness or even
prevent them from providing any protec­
t ion.
- An improperly installed child restraint
can interfere with the airbag as it de ­
ploys and serio usly injure or even kill the
child -even wi th an Advanced Airbag
System.
- Always carefully follow the manufactur­
er's instructions provided with the child
seat or car rier .
- Always m ake su re that there is nothing
on the front passenger seat that will
cause the capacitive passenger detection
system in the seat to s ignal to the Airbag
System that the seat is occupied by a person when it is not, or to signal that it
is occupied by someone who is heavier
than the pe rson actually s itting on the
seat. The presence of additiona l objects
cou ld cause the passenger front airbag
to be t urned on w hen it sho uld be off, or
cou ld cause the ai rbag to work in a way
that is different from the way it wou ld
have worked without the object on the
seat.
Front airbags
Description of front airbags
The airbag system can provide supplemental
protection to properly restrained front seat occupants .
Fig . 14 0 Loc atio n of drive r air b a g : i n stee ring wheel
Fig. 141 Loc ation of fro nt passe nge r's a irbag: in the in ­
str umen t pa nel
Your vehicle is equipped with an "Advanced
Airbag System " in compliance with Un ited
States Federa l Motor Veh icle Safety Standard
(FMVSS) 208 as applicable at the time you r
vehicle was manufactured . The safety belts
for the seats have "pretensioners" that help to take slack out of the belt system. The pre­
ten sioners are also act ivated by the electronic
control unit for the airbag system.
T he front safety belts also have load lim iters
to help reduce the forces applied to the body
in a crash.
The airbag for the driver is in the steering
whee l hub
c:> fig. 140 and the airbag fo r the
front pas senger is in the instr ument panel
¢ fig . 141. The gener al location of the a irbags
is marked "AIRBAG".
T here is a lot you need to know about the a ir­
bags in your vehicle. We urge you to read the
II>